[FX.php List] Approach for multiple language project
Steve Winter
steve at bluecrocodile.co.nz
Sat Nov 21 03:27:38 MST 2009
Hi Jonathan et. al.
I'm 100% with ggt on this...!
When I tackled a multi-language shopping cart I started out with an approach similar to what Frank (a.k.a Someone) had, using a PHP file for each language, then a 'switch' command to load the appropriate language file into a session variable for each user...
Even before we got out of UAT it was driving me nuts with (at that time) only three languages (other than English) none of which I understood because I had to keep making 'little changes' to the text... the original translations had all been done by the people responsible for the various language carts, but they had been done 'out of context' so once they saw them actually on the site, they need to change this, that and 21 thousand other little things...
I knew that there were other languages coming, so late one night, in a fit of despair when I received yet another batch of modifications for the French cart, I converted the whole lot to an FMP database, created user accounts in it, and sent them to each of the office responsible for the translation... problem solved...!!
When we add a new language to the cart, all I have to do is create a new record, and a new account, and send those details to the new office... they do all the translation, of all the onscreen text and messages, and it keeps it really simple for me...!
Clearly your milage will vary, but having the on-screen text in a place where the 'owners' can modify it has saved me endless hours of 'tweaking'...
As to special characters, FM handles that just fine, just make sure that your PHP pages are saved in UTF-8 and that you have the UTF-8 meta declaration in the HTML for th page, and all will be well...
YMMV...
Cheers
Steve
On 21 Nov 2009, at 04:06, Gjermund Gusland Thorsen wrote:
> Mainly due to easy maintenance, and that the client can edit the
> values themselves.
>
> ggt
>
> 2009/11/21 Jonathan Schwartz <jschwartz at exit445.com>:
>> ggt... Thanks for the code. Tell me why you think that storing the variable
>> data in FileMaker is better than in text files.
>>
>> J
>>
>> At 10:44 PM +0100 11/20/09, Gjermund Gusland Thorsen wrote:
>>>
>>> Untested, but I think this would do the job:
>>>
>>> Do not forget to have session_start(); at the top of every file.
>>>
>>> http://pastebin.com/f528f1f4
>>>
>>> ggt
>>>
>>> 2009/11/20 Gjermund Gusland Thorsen <ggt667 at gmail.com>:
>>>>
>>>> Please use FileMaker for those values,
>>>> it will most likely save you alot of trouble.
>>>>
>>>> ggt
>>>>
>>>> 2009/11/20 Jonathan Schwartz <jschwartz at exit445.com>:
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for the sample code. Seeing all the "non-standard" characters
>>>>> makes
>>>>> me think of another question...whether FileMaker will handle these as
>>>>> well
>>>>> as in a text editor, if a text file method is used.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>>
>>>>> At 2:58 PM -0500 11/20/09, Someone wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Jonathan,
>>>>>> I did a project with 3 languages.
>>>>>> The labels of each form were variables.
>>>>>> Lucky the labels didn't change.
>>>>>> If they'd changed often then maybe a database would have be needed.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> eg.
>>>>>> if ($lang == 'en'){
>>>>>> $l_header = "Please complete the following billing
>>>>>> information:";
>>>>>> $l_name = "Full Name";
>>>>>> $l_appears = "(as it appears on credit card)";
>>>>>> $l_card = "Credit Card Number";
>>>>>> $l_month = "Expiry Month";
>>>>>> $l_year = "Expiry Year";
>>>>>> $l_email = "Email address";
>>>>>> $l_regret = "We regret that we can only accept VISA and
>>>>>> MasterCard
>>>>>> payments at this time.";
>>>>>>
>>>>>> }elseif ($lang == 'fr'){
>>>>>> $l_header = "S'il vous plait remplissez les champs suivants avec
>>>>>> vos donnÈs:";
>>>>>> $l_name = "Nom";
>>>>>> $l_appears = "(du titulaire de la carte de credit)";
>>>>>> $l_card = "NumÈro de la carte de credit";
>>>>>> $l_month = "Mois d'ÈchÈance";
>>>>>> $l_year = "AnnÈe d'ÈchÈance";
>>>>>> $l_email = "Adresse Èlectronique";
>>>>>> $l_regret = " Paiement par carte VISA ou MasterCard seulement";
>>>>>>
>>>>>> }elseif ($lang == 'es'){
>>>>>> $l_header = "Por favor complete la siguiente informaciÛn de
>>>>>> pago:";
>>>>>> $l_name = "Nombre completo";
>>>>>> $l_appears = "(tal como aparece en su tarjeta de crÈdito)";
>>>>>> $l_card = "N mero de tarjeta de crÈdito";
>>>>>> $l_month = "Mes de vencimiento";
>>>>>> $l_year = "AÒo de vencimiento";
>>>>>> $l_email = "DirecciÛn electrÛnica";
>>>>>> $l_regret = "Pago por tarjeta VISA o MasterCard solamente.";
>>>>>>
>>>>>> }
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Nov 20, 2009, at 2:44 PM, Jonathan Schwartz wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Folks,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm contemplating how to best approach a new project. The core of the
>>>>>>> project is a multi-page online application form that is needed in 6
>>>>>>> different languages.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Obvioulsy, the process starts by defining each block of text in the
>>>>>>> form...including error messaging... and assigning a unique variable.
>>>>>>> The
>>>>>>> variable gets populated from 6 different "buckets" of values of each
>>>>>>> language after a master language variable is set.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The question is how to store the text data. I guess the choices are
>>>>>>> either in individual languages php files, one for each language, and
>>>>>>> including the appropriate files. The other choice is storing the
>>>>>>> text in a
>>>>>>> FileMaker database. The first option would be faster, but "more
>>>>>>> technical"
>>>>>>> to edit. The latter would require more processing power but be easier
>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>> edit and manage.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> A further complication is handling javascript forms validation in the
>>>>>>> various languages as well.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Anyone been down this road before?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jonathan
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Jonathan Schwartz
>>>>>>> Exit 445 Group
>>>>>>> jonathan at exit445.com
>>>>>>> http://www.exit445.com
>>>>>>> 415-370-5011
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> FX.php_List mailing list
>>>>>>> FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>>>>>> http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>>
>>> >>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> FX.php_List mailing list
>>>>>> FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>>>>> http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Jonathan Schwartz
>>>>> Exit 445 Group
>>>>> jonathan at exit445.com
>>>>> http://www.exit445.com
>>>>> 415-370-5011
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> FX.php_List mailing list
>>>>> FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>>>> http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> FX.php_List mailing list
>>> FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>>> http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Schwartz
>> Exit 445 Group
>> jonathan at exit445.com
>> http://www.exit445.com
>> 415-370-5011
>> _______________________________________________
>> FX.php_List mailing list
>> FX.php_List at mail.iviking.org
>> http://www.iviking.org/mailman/listinfo/fx.php_list
>>
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Steve Winter
steve at bluecrocodile.co.nz
m: +44 77 7852 4776
3 Calshot Court, Channel Way
Ocean Village, Southampton SO14 3GR
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